God and the Poets (Gifford Lecture) - Softcover

Daiches, David

9780198128625: God and the Poets (Gifford Lecture)

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0198128622 ISBN 13: 9780198128625

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 1985

Now available in paperback, this highly acclaimed work, hailed by The New York Times as "graceful, fluid, and extremely accessible," is a study of the ways in which poets from the biblical age to the present have addressed the subject of the nature and existence of God. The book treats such authors as Dante, the medieval Hebrew religious poets, the 17th-century religious poets, and the 18th century Nature poets, and discusses, among other topics, the influence of Calvinism and the poetry of stoicism, agnosticism, and atheism. Throughout the work, Daiches examines the tensions generated when a traditional religious belief which the poet accepts, or feels he should accept, runs counter to the hard facts of his own experience. The author also considers the particular problems which have emerged in this century for the religious poet who cannot accept any specific religious creed, and for readers who are unable to appreciate a poet's set of beliefs. God and the Poets does not set out to provide a comprehensive account of the poetic portrayals of God, but offers the reader a wealth of illuminating reflections on a subject which has obsessed poets over the ages.

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About the Author:

David Daiches (1912-2005) had a distinguished career on both sides of the Atlantic as writer, critic and inspiring teacher. He held posts at the universities of Chicago, Cornell, Cambridge, Sussex and Edinburgh, and published prolifically on a wide range of topics, including Scottish literature and history, British and American poetry and fiction, modernism, literary theory, the Old Testament and Jewish concerns.

Synopsis:

Based on the 1983 Gifford Lectures, this is a study of the ways in which a number of poets have treated the question of the nature and existence of God.

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